Aussie Politicians Join World Leaders in Congratulating U.S. President Barack Obama for Reelection

Australian politicians lost no time on Wednesday in congratulating U.S. President Barack Obama for his successful reelection just hours after media reports confirmed the poll results in the U.S.

Mr Obama, the Democratic candidate and reelectionist, beat Republican candidate Mitt Romney for a second and final four-year term.

Even before Mr Obama delivered his victory speech, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard had sent her congratulatory message.

"On behalf of the government and people of Australia, I offer warm congratulations to President Barack Obama on his reelection and wish him every success for his second term in office," Ms Gillard said in a statement.

"Australia has worked closely with President Obama and his administration over the past four years. I look forward to continuing this friendship," she added.

Although Canberra has spelled out that Asia will be its focus in the coming years in a white paper the federal government released in late October, Ms Gillard, who pointed out that Canberra and Washington have a long history of working together to address global security and economic challenges, visited the U.S. in March 2012.

In 2011, Australia allowed the establishment of an American military station in Darwin, while U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton is scheduled to visit Australia on Nov 20 for a security and defense summit.

Not to be outdone, Opposition leader Tony Abbott also congratulated Mr Obama and hinted of his long-time dream to be Australia's next prime minister.

"It was a hard-fought contest worthy of one of the world's greatest democracies . . . The United States is Australia's largest and most important ally and Australia can look forward to a continuation of the best possible relations with the United States," the Coalition leader said in a statement.

MPs and cabinet members Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese sent their congratulatory messages to America's first black president via Twitter.

Likewise, British Prime Minister David Cameron - who like Mr Obama is in his early 50s - used his Twitter account to congratulate the reelected president. "Look forward to continuing to work together" he wrote in the microblogging site.

Jean-Claude Juncker, head of the Eurogroup of Finance Ministers and prime minister of Luxembourg, said in Singapore that it would be easier to establish a closer working relationship with Mr Obama on his second term because the president use his first four years in office from 2009 to 2012 to focus on solving domestic issues, particularly the U.S. recovery from the 2008 global financial crisis.

"The second mandate, U.S. presidents normally are rediscovering the entireness of the European identity, and we need for the U.S. and for Europe to be close, to work closely together," Big Pond News quoted Mr Juncker.